Today, when a shopper buys product(s) from a store, he/she will typically put all the products to be purchased in the shopping cart and proceed to a centralized checkout register to pay for the products. The centralized checkout may be staffed by a store employee who performs the checkout process or may be automated, allowing the shopper to perform the checkout process. Often, there will be a checkout line and the shopper will then wait in line to purchase the products. Time spent by a shopper in the checkout line typically depends on a total duration of a plurality of activities for each of a plurality of other shoppers that are ahead of the shopper in the checkout line. The activities may include unloading each shopper's cart (or basket), placing product(s) to be purchased on a conveyer belt, scanning each product (by the shopper or a store staff person), bagging the scanned product(s), reloading the cart with the bagged product(s) and paying for the product(s). At least a portion of these activities are performed serially both for a specific shopper and between the plurality of shoppers in the checkout line. When the shopper walks out of the door, if there is any item in the bag that the checkout register missed, it may trigger an alarm, which can be embarrassing for the shopper. On the other hand, if a customer wants to return a product, he/she will need to go to customer service and wait in line for the next available staff member. Waiting in line is undesirable resulting in a less than ideal customer experience.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.